People say we’re lazy but it’s the working conditions — Fraser
Opposition Leader Julian Fraser has argued that claims that Virgin Islanders are lazy and don’t like to work are patently false.
“It’s the working conditions they wouldn’t tolerate,” Fraser said in the House of Assembly (HOA) recently.
Fraser said he admired the fact that there are some companies that are doing the right thing in ensuring that Virgin Islanders are kept gainfully employed.
However, he said there are others who prefer not to go through this and use other people they can easily exploit, something the legislator felt that the Labour Department has an obligation to ensure does not take place.
Our people are good at nearly everything
Fraser also argued that laws being enacted should ensure that locals are properly enfranchised in the businesses they are a part of.
“Our people are good in just about everything. Virgin Islanders are among the most versatile individuals you’re going to find anywhere in the world,” he stated.
“They are loyal, they’re good at what they do. All they need is an opportunity” he continued.
Fraser said he sometimes goes to businesses and sees persons who have been working there for 15 or 20 years but have no ownership stake in the business, yet they are the ones who manage the storeroom, purchase goods and control the inventory, among other things.
According to Fraser, this does not happen anywhere else in the developed world except in places like this.
Local partner should be ultimate owner?
“Yes, it is right for us to mandate that businesses coming to the territory to do business should have partners, local partners, but those partners should not be used as fronts. They should be meaningful partners,” Fraser stated.
The legislator said this is something that is done effectively in other parts of the world.
“The aim and the goal is that at some point, that person or that affiliate that you have will indeed become the sole owner of that business,” Fraser said.
Fraser related an anecdote of a visit he made to a business and was told that the business had an employee that had been in the industry for some 30 years, and was told this demonstrated its stability and competence.
“I said to them, you ought to make this person a partner. They ought to have shares in this business,” Fraser stated.
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This guy is delusional.
Working somewhere doesn’t give you ownership after a few years anywhere in the world. It happens to some through option plans etc. But no it’s not the standard.
And BVI people the most versatile in the world? Ha. Ha. Let’s see how far these people will get in customer service oriented jobs anywhere else in the world.
How many local partners does Julian Fraser have in his various businesses in the Territory?
Your ‘Ha Ha’ response and disfainfully superior view about those you refer to as “these people” speaks volumes. I am no ‘delusional’ fan of Mr. Fraser. But he is being brutally honest here. Too many employers, local and otherwise, from every sector of the labour force, including government, have for at least 6 decades been using the ‘unqualified’ and ‘lazy’ label as an excuse to avoid radical labour and industrial transformations in the Virgin Islands. We ought to be careful of persistently demeaning and denigrading our people with that kind of language. As a matter of historical fact, the stereotype of the lazy, laid-back native is a powerful and crippling survival of colonial thinking and was used vociferously in the post-abolition period to justify the importation of indentured labourers and refusal of by the planter class to pay fair wages to formerly enslaved workers. Who the cap fit, let dem wear it!
Our working conditions require rigorous investigation and research. The Labour Dept is functioning more and more like an employment and work permit agency and does not seem to have the time or resources to properly investigate unjust labour practices not in keeping with ILO mandate and our own labour laws. While laziness and poor work ethic and attitude is a problem, we cannot allow the tired stereotyping of the whole population of a place to devolve into what amounts to an excuse for disregarding other aspects of labour affecting productivity, including hazardous work environments, lower wages, discrimination, exploitation, poor succession planning, inadequate on-the-job workforce training, overdependence on labour importation.
No Virgin Islander, in fact, no worker period, should have to suffer demoralization for refusing to tolerate unjust work conditions. And that includes the self-fulfilling prophecy that already puts a whole group of people at a disadvantage for being presumed and labelled to be lazy. Like I said, who the cap fits…
Everything you say is unfortunately too true but you are missing one key point.
Our education is a MESS. We teach most kids only what they need to get a job working for government. We don’t support education and we don’t support our children. We don’t think of our children as the future and worthy of investment- just look at the new High School campus- we’re building a factory!
Perhaps he also feels that those people should become Citizens of a community to which they contribute after short period? Can’t have it both ways, Fraser.
First off, if a people have a reputation for something it’s usually for good reason. Like saying the black man is a drug selling, murdering, raping, gang banging criminal. Although it may not be true for all, there are many many blacks that live up to this reputation as can be seen by who inhabits most of the jails worldwide. We can of course look close to home and see that the former Premier has given credit to the reputation. In other words dear Fraser, the reputation is just plain true.
Looks like a garbage dump – nuf said..
HE CAN SEE AGAIN , SADLY ON ONE SIDE ONLY ? WE ARE PRETTY SURE THAT YOU BARE AWARE OF ALL THE EXPATS ( AS WE CALL THEM ) THAT ARE BEING EXPLOITED AND MANIPULATED BY THEIR EMPLOYERS FOR YEARS /NHI / SOCIAL SECURITY ETC , WHERE WERE YOUR YOUR VOICE mr MACHO MAN / YOU HAVE A CHANCE AGAIN TO BE TRANSPARENT , / SO PLEASE BE HONEST
This attitude again! It’s really quite amazing to people not from here.
Nowhere else would you need a local partner who has no risk or financial investment. Everywhere else they would be employees. Yes, sometimes you may have shares in the business but you can not expect to control a business you have no risk invested in.
Fraser, you know better than this, yes we may be hardworking but not to say versatile in the world. “come on man”
You could work for 20 years at Tescos and not own a part of the company. Where does he get this stuff from??
Evidenced by the fact that he and his brother have a set of UNITES NATIONS nationals running around here delivering water for them – a testament to the FRAZERIAN method of local empowerment .
Some thing one cannot legislate :
Like giving shares if businesses to employees
….
And LETTING your stinkin CESSPIT leak electronic-ink to offend the sensibilities of the viewing public .
Retire from site , Thou relic to relevance
Delusional. But popular.
Mostly delusional!
Sorry but you are wrong. Many men and women, blue and white collar workers turn up for their jobs daily all over the world. They work for the money and most will never get the option to own shares in that business. This is fact.
Just because you have been employed for 30 years doesn’t give you the right to become a shareholder.
Mr Fraser, employees have no right to expect ownership of any business.
They have nothing good to contribute that is why they talk so much trash
Architect man, when you worked in New York were you an owner? Did your New York firm need to have a BVIslander as a partner? BVI=Apartheid
The truth is the BVIslander is lazy, does not show up for work, when he/she does they don’t work. The problem is they think they are entitled and better than everyone else. They prefer to ride scooters and sell drugs. Sitting under trees also goes well. Last and most important is that they are uneducated as when they leave school they can’t read, write or do simple math.
How can you you use a broad-brush statement such as your opening above and expect to the rest of your post to be treated with credibility? There are lazy people in BVI just like the country you are from, and if you are from here, shame on you as you should know better. I find it incredibly offensive that you should be here in a country that is functioning sufficiently well (however far from perfectly so) for you to earn and live so comfortably as to decide to remain and consider all of the citizens lazy, drug pushing, entitled idiots. As a matter of principle, I do not visit the yellow site because of the toxicity. Over here, the vitriol directed towards BVIslanders is overbearing and I may need to consider scratching this as well for my peace of mind.
BVI functioning sufficiently well?!?!? Only if your perception of ‘functioning sufficiently well’ means importing drugs, murders and corruption! Idiot!
By “We” You mean the 1/3 of the population that gets to vote? Yep – they are lazy. That’s why you had to write labor laws or else no one would hire them.
As the Saying Goes, When you build a house in the BVI: Once you are 90% done – you have 90% more to finish
It doesn’t work anywhere else like this. So why does it work this way in the BVI? Entitled Belongers used to getting everything handed to them.
Let the rest of us become citizens and vote and you can get rid of those labor laws for good. We work. We get things done. We don’t steal.
When are these guys going to understand that an apartheid system not only can’t be enforced but also is detrimental to both BVI development and BVIslanders? The world is slowly leaving us behind
He is the only one in the house of assembly that is qualified—–THE CREAM OF THE CROP—-THE STONE THAT THE BUILDER REFUSED BUT ONE DAY SOON WILL BE THE HEAD CORNER STONE
but we built back with country rather quick
Antigua said that the BVI was a bird sanctuary but we survived and prospered
Prospered due to drugs and corruption!
what a bunch of froth…weres the mauby
How many local partners does Julian Fraser have in his various businesses in the Territory?
HE COULDN’T EVEN DEFEAT HIS BUDDY SAINT ANDREW , IN A ONE ON ONE SHOWDOWN , HE NEEDS TO OPEN BOTH EYES AND DO THE RIGHT THING , THAT WILL BE A BLESSING
Lazy People look for excuses not to work. Willing people find away to get work done..
IF YOU NOT AFRAID ,TAKE A TRIP NIN THE GHETTO AND HANG OUT FOR A
WHILE AND OBSERVE WHO IS COMING IN THERE DURING WORKING HOURS AND WHERE THEY FROM AND WHICH GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING FOR ( AND THEN BANG OFF YOUR MOUTH
I disagree with you, Mr. Fraser. Just look at the guard rails or lack of guard rails, the large potholes in the roads, the litter and spilled trash bags along the roads, the abandoned vehicles, the construction materials and appliances by the bins. The failure to correct motor scooter behavior.
I have been to Cayman and Bermuda. I never saw anything close to this.
Adopt the Monaco model.
It is beneficial to all and creates a happy life.
Working conditions created by whom? About 1/3 of BVIslanders work for the government.Exploiting of non BVislanders by whom? Versatility as exhibited by what?
like implicit bias.
ABOUT THAT LADY WHO WAS ROBBED AND KILLED IN COLD BLOOD SO THEY COULD PAY THEIR RENT / WERE THOSE YOUTHS HARD WORKING EH ❓ ? ) CHILLILG ON THE BLOCK WEARING BIG GOLD CHAINS/ BIG GOLD RINGS / SMOKING WEED AND COCAINE AND LIVING IN EXPENSIVE APPARTMENT AND CANNOT PAY THEIR RENT / YOU ARE REALLY SHOWING THEM HOW ENTITLED THEY REALLY ARE / IF THAT LADY WAS YOUR SISTER , I WONDER IF YOU WOULD BE SO CONCEITED
We’re not lazy, we just want comfy chairs, air conditioning, and 2 hour long lunches.
What a fool.
Because there is no ac under the hot blazing sun that some expat have to work under.
Every one is free to make a choice. Who wants to work in the sun do so nobody is forcing them.
I agree with you Hon.Frazer. The Expats allow themselves to be exploited so that they can get the jobs and then complain that they are being treated like slaves blaming the Virgin Islanders for their plight. Expats want it both ways you grab the jobs by lowering your standards pushing theVirgin Islanders out of the job market and then complain when you feel dehumanized